Thursday, September 27, 2007

Day 4 - Just a Little More

September 27, 2007
The street and all curbs are officially gone. The dust is here.

I caught the grater coming through for tonight's "out the front door" pic.







I've got a few more pictures; I guess I should show the new driveway approach first to be fair after yesterday's tirade. Also, see the view of the street in its final form as well as the dust build-up. Enjoy!


Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Day 3 - Who Needs a Driveway?


September 26, 2007
As you can see, we went from "closed to thru traffic" to "closed to traffic, period." Do you see anyway to get past the trailer at the end of the block?
My wife parked the car around the corner after dropping me off at the train station this morning, so we didn't the full aftermath until she left work, picked my back up at the train station, and drove home. Turning down the street, this was our view (not to mention being greeted by sounds of large rocks scraping the underside of our car!).

We got down as far as the driveway, and realized that there was a problem - an 8" grade change from the dirt pathway that was once our street to the remains of our driveway approach. Do you see any way to get up that? (at least in a sedan - I am sure you 4x4 SUV and truck drivers would wish for a commute so entertaining and would probably tell me if you could, "that's why I have one of these." Tell it to the gas pump...)





I will have to hit pause on the cynicism and, in the spirit of fairness, give the city credit on two accounts - our neighbor across the street had a doctor appointment this morning and all work stopped (except for fixing a temporary driveway approach) so that she could leave and return. Kudos on that. Double kudos for having a temporary approach laid in for everyone on the block by the time we got home from church.

Half-kudos to the sanitation department - the trash was picked up (to my astonishment, considering the conditions), but the recycling remains. I'll call that fair enough.

For grins, a few more views of the carnage; pray for no rain, because this could be a real mess if it does! (walking the half block from around the corner to the house today showed us that even in "best" conditions, this could be dangerous). First, the obligatory "out the front door" shot, followed by a few others:

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Day 2 - Closed to ThruTraffic

September 25, 2007
Well, today the street is gone. When I walked home after getting off the bus, I had to dodge construction equipment as I watched my street being swept away. The view out the front door is a little different today.















My wife couldn't even get to work today because she was trapped in the driveway with construction equipment on both ends of the street. Our only recourse seems to be parking on the side street, but if it rains, how will we walk to the house? Through the mud? Let's hope those are questions we don't have to answer too soon...


A few parting shots of what we've got; first the western view:















And now east:

Day 1 - When the sidewalk ends...

This blog is meant to track the progress of a Fort Worth street renovation (name withheld for my privacy!)

Day 1 - September 24, 2007
Today the sidewalk was torn up starting early in the morning. The aftermath is shown to the left and below. The picture to the left is the "out the front door" view, and I will try to make this a regular view so the progress (or lack thereof) is evident. The others are just for fun...